League Policies

GENERAL

Teams are co-ed, made up of a minimum of 6 players and maximum of 12 players.

All players must sign a waiver, and be 19 years and over, in order to play; no exceptions.

All teams must have 2 females, if not more, on the court to start a game. If needed, a team can borrow a female from another team, but must still have 1 player from their own roster for their games to officially count.

Teams may borrow additional females in the regular season to a maximum of 5 players, excluding the female player from the original roster.

In playoffs, no team may be allowed to borrow any females from another team.

Substitutes that are outside of the league must sign a waiver prior to playing.

Teams are not allowed to borrow male players from another team in the same division/night.

Male substitute players can only play for one team per night.

After 2 weeks of substitution for a certain team, a male substitute player will be ineligible to substitute for another team for the season.

Illegal substitutes could result in a forfeit of all games played by the illegal substitute. An illegal substitute is a player that infringes General #6-9.

Only roster players are eligible for Playoffs if they have played a minimum of 4 weeks prior to Playoffs. Exceptions will be granted on a case by case basis.

Any physical altercations, or serious breaches of spirit and sportsmanship will be automatically met with disciplinary actions which could result in suspensions or expulsion.*

Dangerous play – any type of play that is deemed dangerous or unsafe are highly discouraged. Any type of dangerous play will be subject to verbal warnings as well as expulsion. Please see Code of Conduct for more details.

RDL has a zero tolerance policy towards drugs and alcohol. They are prohibited in all gyms and surrounding areas, and within players’ bodies (playing under the influence). Simply put, if a player or a RDL Exec can smell the substances emanating from a player, then the offender will be ejected from the premises immediately and will be subjected to further disciplinary action afterwords, including suspensions and expulsion.

Usage of gym apparatuses during dodgeball play (chin-up bars, climbing walls, ropes) or performing dangerous actions and stunts (backflips off walls and the gym stage) are banned due to safety concerns.

Captains’ handshake: to build trust, goodwill and a better sense of community, captains are to meet with each other at the beginning of the night, before any games are played, and take a minute to introduce themselves, shake hands, and wish each other well. This helps with any conflicts on the courts.

Captains’ Clause: a game may be played under some variation of the rules and policies agreed upon by the captains of the teams involved.**

RDL expects all players to be mature, respectful and sportsmanliketo other participants and to league organizers. In order to protect the community, we reserve the right to refuse service.

If a shoe comes off a player during the course of a game, the game is immediately stopped and acts as a normal referee stoppage. Once the shoe has been put back on, the game will restart with all players back against the wall according to the League Rules.

Head Injury: If a player experiences an action that results in a head injury, per basic concussion symptoms, that player will sit out the remainder of the evening. For said player to be approved to continue playing after the night of the injury, a doctor’s note sent to the league (info@rdldodgeball.ca) will be required.

*NEW* Default (No Show) Teams who do not show up with no notice will be charged a default fine of $50. Teams who default will not be scheduled to play until the fee has been paid by their next scheduled date. Teams will not be charged if the night’s Division Director is notified at least 24 hours in advance.

* – In order to protect league players, RDL reserves the right to give official warnings and suspensions on any of the above violations, and may ask the instigator to leave the court or premise immediately if the violation is severe. Three official warnings, or a single severe violation will lead to a ban from the league for the rest of the season including playoffs.** – This rule is only for rare and extenuating circumstances (e.g. permitting a team to play with only 1 female on the court or 1 female substitute player at Playoffs due to unexpected injury or absence). Both captains must agree on any changes of the rules and policies. In addition, pressuring another captain to change the rules and policies against his/her will is unsportsmanlike.

PLAYOFFS AND SPIRIT

To place greater emphasis on fun and good spirit, RDL ensures that ALL teams make the Playoffs.

Playoffs are a double knockout tournament.

After teams are placed in their final playoff tiers, a team’s spirit points are multiplied by 3 (for a score out of 30) and then added as wins so higher spirited teams have a chance for better playoff seeding.

Teams that do not fill out a spirit ballot at the end of a night will forfeit their input for other teams’ spirit scores for that night. All other teams receive a 10 from said team by default. The team itself receives scores as given to them by the other teams.

Spirit scores that do not have a good justification for a score under 5 will be ignored.

Spirit scores for the other teams affected in scenarios 5 and 6 will be averaged based on the other submitted scores.

As a general rule of thumb, if a team has met most of the points of the guidelines, they should be given a spirit score of 7 to 10. If an opposing team is given a score under 5, the team giving the score must explain the reason(s) for the score. If there’s no good justification, the score will be ignored, and the opposing teams will get an average based on the other scores submitted. Teams giving other teams a zero are flagged and followed-up on, as it’s considered a serious complaint.

If teams don’t fill out a spirit ballot at the end of a night, they forfeit their say in other teams’ spirit scores for that specific night. All other teams receive a 10 from said team by default. The team itself receives scores as given to them by the other teams. .

The How-Tos of Spirit BallotsBasically if a team demonstrates high spirit, good sportsmanship, consistent reffing, and are just a blast to play with, they should receive a 10 out of 10. The comment section is available for positive comments too, so if you had a great time at dodgeball playing a certain team, write that in! We love hearing positive feedback just as much as constructive criticism.

The What NOT-To-Dos of Spirit BallotsThe Spirit Ballot is:

X – NOT a reporting tool. If you have a concern to bring up with another team, please try to resolve the matters player-to-player or captain-to-captain immediately. The comments are used to improve the overall logistics of RDL, get feedback on what teams need coaching, but are not used to resolve personal conflicts or major complaints. Please follow up with a RDL Exec if there’s been a spirit or code of conduct breach.

X – NOT used as a punishment tool. The opposing team should not be punished with a low score because of misunderstandings of the rules, or because of an inability of impacted teams to speak up, and address the issue directly. Proper conflict resolution, done immediately, should prevent low spirit scores.

X – NOT to be used to sabotage another team. Do not give the opposing team a low score in order to sabotage their efforts to get better Playoff seeding or to win Hootie the Spirit Owl. This action in itself contradicts what Spirit is all about.